Uh oh. The LADWP bird balls aren’t good enough to drink.*
The bird balls dwp dropped into Ivanhoe with much fanfare this week were tested by NSF for one condition only: whether or not they leach chemicals into water that is exactly 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit. These bird balls passed that test, but have not been tested (or they failed) for everything else!
Numbers, please. Photo from Oldphoneworks.com.
And before I start, let me say that I am a capitalist, love Ayn Rand, and wish all entrepreneurs much success! The fact that Orange Products is so small that we are its only client for months is touching. Still, this is bad news I must share.
I called them today, (thanks to LA Now and Curbed LA for the company name) feeling a little sheepish that I had been calling ECC instead, for a couple of weeks now. Well, it turns out that my previous phone calls were right. Orange manufactures the bird balls, (which they call “vapor balls”, since they said the name “bird balls” is registered), but they said they couldn’t answer any questions, and told me to call ECC. (Who hasn’t returned any of my 6 calls yet.) However, Ken at Orange did say the plastic they use isn’t graded. (This is not true. All HDPE plastic is graded.) He also said they passed NSF testing, and that I should call them. (Important phone call after jump.)
I never heard of NSF, which some people might recognize is one of the top labs in the country, similar to the UL (which I did recognize, thanks.) They’re not a government agency, and are non-profit (as if I believe that – about any “non-profit”.) They’ve been around since 1944, and started out by testing food equipment. They test every single product that might come in contact with water, using NSF/ansi Standard 61, including pipes, pumps, filters, bottles, etc.
Cheryl Luptowski of NSF was very friendly and informative about these scientific tests and guidelines, and told me that they only did one test on these bird balls. This standard follows the EPA guidelines; NSF tests a product at 73.4 degrees cold water for hours or days, to make sure the product doesn’t leach impurities into the water. However…they allow products to go over the EPA standards by 10%. Hmm. *Cheryl comments below that this number is not correct, although I don’t quite understand what she means. Read it.
Even better – NSF tests only the qualities the manufacturer asks them to! Does this astonish anyone else? Also: if the product fails any test, it’s completely confidential, and only the manufacturer knows the results of those tests! There’s free enterprise for you!
Cheryl said NSF did not test these Orange Product bird balls for UV ray damage (the sun.) Nor for heat from the sun. Nor test them for rubbing or bumping other balls. Nor for any kind of heat box effect that a layer of black balls might create on the water surface, including possible bacteria or algae growth. Nor for longevity of the ball itself nor chemical long-term leaching. (OR, the balls were tested for these qualities and failed, but one can’t assume this.)
Best of luck to Orange Products, ECC, the dwp, and anyone who drinks water in LA!
*edited to clarify that as Cheryl writes in the comment below, it’s not that the NSF forgot to test for these: This standard does not currently contain any provisions to address issues related to a product’s exposure to UV light or friction.
So, do you think we’ll have any sunny days this year in Los Angeles?
Donna Barstow
Griffith Park is the 2nd biggest park in the US, and I'm just the person to investigate it! I've lived here for over 25 years. I was part of the PROS Committee in Griffith Park Neighborhood Council and am on the Housing & Tenants Rights Committee in the Silver Lake NC. I'm in the LA Press Club, and you can find some of my articles in the LA Weekly and the Los Feliz Ledger. I'm a cartoonist for Parade Magazine, The New Yorker, LA Times, Slate, & most major media. Questions and contacts welcome.
3 Comments
Laurie Pepper
I’ve been sending emails to my local neighborhood watch group here by the lake.
The results: a meeting is planned soonest by the Neighborhood council.
Meanwhile, at 10:30 AM Monday the 21st, a small group of those I emailed are meeting at the Coffee Table — to discuss the whole thing. Thanks for your really informative info. — Laurie Pepper
Laurie Pepper
When it’s this hot it’s hard to get worked up about anything. But I’ve managed to get a little exercised.
Anyway, here’s what I’ve gathered so far.
Apparently as regards the reservoirs, there are “factions,” none of whom is particularly interested in the reservoirs: Silver Lake. Ivanhoe.
The issue, to these factions, seems to be future uses of “The Meadow.”
The Neighborhood Council has ceded any interest in the reservoirs to the CSSLR.
The CSSLR, nominally in charge of the reservoirs — at least they did a great job in the past — seems to have ceded all liquid matters to the DWP. They are now completely taken up by Meadow matters.
Which leaves us, the actual neighborhood, up you-know-which creek without a paddle. Look, there it is, right outside my window!
That is why the famous “meeting” with the DWP in January, was played down to those of us not wildly excited about The Meadow. It seems a few interested souls did attend that meeting and did try to ask the DWP some intelligent questions, but they were shouted down, booed and hissed(!) by those who cared a lot about the uses of The Meadow and nothing at all about those of us who actually have to look at the new Tar Pit on Tesla and wonder what burning hot plastic balls are doing to the drinking water.
Members of the Neighborhood Council — Janet Cunningham and others are attempting to set up meetings for those of us who DO care about such things. There’s no point in just getting together to complain. We need a meeting where we might actually talk about the The Reservoir, not about The Meadow, with representatives of the city and the DWP. I will definitely let everyone know if such a miracle comes to pass.
Love and kisses to my neighbors, Laurie Pepper
Cheryl Luptowski
As a point of clarification, NSF/ANSI Standard 61 is a voluntary American national standard that was developed to address concerns about the potential introduction of impurities from products intended for exposure to drinking water, including residential plumbing fixtures and faucets as well as products used at water treatment plants. This standard does not currently contain any provisions to address issues related to a product’s exposure to UV light or friction.
While the standard is based in part on EPA safe drinking water guidelines, the amount of impurities that a single product would be allowed to introduce into drinking water would be much lower than most state and federal drinking water guidelines. In fact, the single product allowable concentrations for many contaminants would be closer to 10% of the U.S./Health Canada federal limit (not 10% over these limits).
Cheryl Luptowski
Public Information Officer
NSF International
888-99-SAFER